Exodus 8

The Lord is working out His mysterious sovereign will. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. See Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11. But the Lord will vindicate His own great glory, and He will manifest His great judgments before the eyes of His people and their enemies.

He has not changed His mind about what He is doing. Israel is His firstborn son. Pharaoh must let Israel go. If he will not let God's son go, then God will kill Pharaoh's firstborn. On the way to that devastating judgment, God shows His power over heaven and earth, and even over the hearts of the righteous and the wicked. And God makes a distinction between His chosen people and everyone else. That is His divine prerogative.

The plagues against Egypt continue now by the command of God, through the voice of Moses, and through the hands of Aaron. Who can doubt that all of these signs come from the Almighty? Frogs everywhere. Frogs in places where no one wants to find frogs. Not only frogs in large numbers in the Nile, but frogs out of the Nile, and frogs in Egyptian houses, and in Pharaoh's bedroom, and in his bed, and in the beds of other Egyptians. Frogs in your ovens, and in the bowls where your bread dough is rising. Aaron stretches out his hand with his staff, and frogs cover the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh's magicians can do that too. Once again the enemies of God do not feel what they should feel, but they take encouragement that their own spiritual people can also bring signs of judgment upon their own land. Why is that good news? Yet they like pretending that the God of Israel is not so special after all.

Of course, the Egyptian magicians cannot take away the frogs. To get rid of the frogs, Pharaoh needs to call on Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh is so willing to get rid of the frogs that he claims that he will let the people go. Pharaoh picks the time for frog departure, and the Lord God gets the glory. There is no one like God. But once the frogs are gone, Pharaoh hardens his heart. He will not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord said.

God is not surprised by Pharaoh's stubbornness. Nor has He changed His plan to rescue Israel, to judge the Egyptians, and to glorify His own Name. Next plague: He will fill Egypt with gnats, and He will do it through Moses, who will work wonders through Aaron. Aaron strikes the dust of the earth with his staff, and “all the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.” This sign the magicians cannot do. They say, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh will not listen.

After the gnats, God sends a plague of flies to Egypt. Moses meets Pharaoh again at the water's edge according to God's instruction, to present the king with the Lord's continued demand. Whether frogs, gnats, or now flies, these pests are not only all over the land of Egypt; they make their way into Pharaoh's palace and into the homes of all the Egyptians. But the land of Goshen and the homes of the Israelites face no such troubles. God makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt.

Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron, suggesting that he is now ready to comply with the Lord's command. Yet he wants Israel to perform their ritual sacrifices within the land of Egypt. He will negotiate. Moses responds with fear of the Egyptians, reasoning with Pharaoh as if with a man who will have some sympathy with the predicament of the Israelites.

Pharaoh needs Moses to get rid of the flies, so he makes it seem like he will let them go, only not very far away. He will not give up his authority position over his slaves. He will not accept the full force of God's claim. It is not at all clear that God's ambassadors have even made the true claim yet: “Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I will kill your firstborn son.”

There is no room for negotiation, but God's messengers are looking for some opening. And Pharaoh is still operating under the fiction that he is in charge, and not any supposed God of the Israelites.

But first things first. Get rid of these flies. Do your magic, “Plead for me.” Moses wants to use this moment to his advantage: “Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Being the true representative of the Lord is not about power politics. God does not want Moses to negotiate for the release of His son Israel. But the Lord still hears the plea of His ambassador, Moses. He removes the swarms of flies. But Pharaoh hardens his heart again. He will not let the people go.

When the Mediator of the New Covenant comes, He does not negotiate with the devil for our release. He speaks as One who has authority. His Word heals the blind, and stops the roar of the waves. No questions asked.

His death settles the entire claim of the justice of God. Our salvation is not the result of peace talks with the Lord's adversaries. Heaven does not come to us as a negotiated settlement. The resurrection of Jesus is an in-your-face statement to anyone who dares to challenge the authority of the God of Israel. Jesus, the God-Man, is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles. Behold, He makes all things new!